How and Why did the Fourth Crusade go Wrong?

The Fourth Crusade often called the “Crusade against Christians”, did not go according to plan. Due to a number of accidents, coupled with their honouring of secular contracts, before that of their vow to God. An overestimation of the number of crusaders when arranging a transportation contract with Venice left the crusaders at its mercy. This led the crusaders under pressure, to contract further to attack Zara, a Christian city against their vows as crusaders. The arrival of Alexius the son of the former Emperor of Byzantium with an offer they could not refuse saw them on their way to Constantinople. So again the crusade was directed away from its original course in order to yet again attack a Christian city. The purpose of this essay is to discuss these events in order to explain how and why the fourth crusade went wrong.

The crusaders left themselves in a vulnerable contractual position, when their six envoys bargained for the transport of three times the number of crusaders ...